People have long detected the emission of light and other electromagnetic emissions in the process of applying mechanical stimulation, such as rubbing, deformation, scratching, striking, and fracture. This phenomenon is broadly known as mechanoemission and, in the case of light, has been observed for centuries and has several forms: triboluminescence (luminescence due to friction), mechanoluminescence (luminescence due to deformation of a material), and fractoluminescence (luminescence generated by fracturing a material). This mechanical stimulation may also generate electricity, also known as triboelectricity. The mechanoemission, in addition to an increase in temperature during the mechanical stimulation, emits optical and radio wave diapason of electromagnetic waves which conveys information about the material under investigation and can be recorded for analysis.
Presently, scientists from many countries study the phenomenon of triboluminescence, and research funds in the amount of billions of dollars are allocated to that effort. Specifically in the United States, a lot of time and effort is dedicated to the study of triboluminescence in many universities across the country.
One of the most important challenges in this field of study for scientists around the world and in the United States is to find a method of mechanical activation that would enable one to detect optical emissions with such characteristics (intensity and duration) that would allow for practical applications of the method of triboluminescence. Currently, methods experimented within this field are only able to detect a signal with low intensity and insignificant duration in time (picoseconds or nanoseconds). Further, registration and recording of these low intensity, short duration signals requires very expensive equipment.
One attempt is a triboluminometer that has been developed in the former Soviet Union (the “Russian Triboluminometer”) at the Kiev Research Institute of Oncology in Kiev, Ukraine. The Russian Triboluminometer consists of (i) a mechanical activation knot; (ii) an electrode; (iii) a filter panel and associated mounting hardware; and (iv) a photomultiplier. The mechanical activation knot comprises an electret probe in the shape of a cylinder. The electret probe is composed of polytetrafluoroethylene (i.e., Teflon). The electret probe rotates around a shaft, which is connected to a motor. In the process of this rotation, the electret probe rubs against a sample, which creates an electric charge. The probe continues to rotate and comes in contact the operating electrode, securely grounded. As a result of this contact, an optical beam is emitted. This optical beam is then detected by the photomultiplier tube. The optical emissions are spectrally divided by a filter and registered by a photomultiplier. The usefulness of the Russian Triboluminometer, however, is limited because it generates a relatively weak signal of low intensity and short duration and does not adequately address the aforementioned problems.